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In my case, as you can see below, I did not feel right in voting a starting pitcher first, and was even a bit leery to have Justin Verlander as high as third, given that he only plays in 34 games. And, as you can also see, I put considerable value on a team's success, which is why I couldn't vote Jacoby Ellsbury first, even though he was hardly the reason for Boston's collapse. (And why I had Toronto's Jose Bautista fifth).

Curtis Granderson was my choice, though certainly not overwhelmingly as some of the Yankees people whom I spoke with felt Robinson Cano may have been more valuable. But I looked at what Granderson did, leading the AL in runs (136) and RBIs (119), and the hand he had in the Yankees success, and felt that was the way to go. As for Evan Longoria fourth? Seeing what he did from midseason on in getting the Rays to the playoffs certainly stuck with me. (As did having James Shields 10th.)

Voting is done by two BBWAA voters in each AL city (for a total of 28 voters) and there are 10 spots on the ballot. Obviously people are going to have different opinions, and I'll be eager to read yours in the comments section below.

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